RIVERSIDE: Streetcars may roll in the city's future

(Page 2 of 5)

More from this story

Streetcars have seen a revival as people have begun moving from suburbs back to cities, Guzetti said. (U.S. Census data from 2013 show more than 75 percent of the nation’s metropolitan areas grew in population since 2012.) People like them because they’re energy-efficient and community-friendly — some of the same reasons they initially worked, he said.

“The streetcars create a sense of place,” Guzetti said. “It’s a way to shape your community. It’s a way to spark economic development. It’s a way to attract younger generations.”

Around Southern California, Los Angeles and San Diego have seen success in the past few years with streetcars, though they operate within the sort of larger light rail system that Riverside lacks.

REASONS TO RIDE

On a recent weekday morning, every space in the parking lot of the Expo Line’s Culver City station was full. Passengers included a young woman with a toddler in a stroller, a young man in a plaid shirt and black Chuck Taylors listening to music on his smartphone and several people who wheeled bicycles onto the streetcar.

The Expo Line runs between Culver City and downtown Los Angeles, where it connects with other light rail service. An extension to Santa Monica is under construction.

Some riders use it in addition to their cars, but for others, it’s a replacement.

Since his car broke down, Frank Hernandez, 43, has been riding the Green Line from home in Downey to work at the California Science Center, and he planned to ride the Expo Line somewhere to get lunch.

“I think the trains are a big part of getting around town immediately and quickly,” Hernandez said, adding, “It is nice to not have to worry about traffic, read a book, listen to music or even take a nap.”

Since it opened in 2012 the Expo Line has been “very, very popular,” serving nearly 30,000 annual riders — well above a 2020 projection of 27,000 riders, said Rick Jager, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or Metro.

San Diego’s system carries commuters to work, visitors and residents to Petco Park and the convention center, and students to and from San Diego State and other colleges, San Diego Metropolitan Transit System spokesman Rob Schupp said.

Launched in 1981 to help move thousands of people from the Mexican border to jobs in the city, San Diego’s trains “led the renaissance of light rail development,” Schupp said. In 2011, it added the Silver Line, a downtown loop traveled by a restored 1946 trolley car.

Train operator Allan Ingram said rail enthusiasts have come from Germany, England, New Zealand and all over the United States specifically to ride the vintage streetcar.

Software application developer Brian Wisma, 27, said he rides San Diego’s modern trolleys and buses daily to get to work and added that he’d use public transit even if his employer didn’t pay for his bus pass.

Join the conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful
conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments,
we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful,
threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent
or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law,
regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.